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Treaty of Westphalia
The painting represents the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia. This event concluded the last war of religion in Europe. It secured freedom from persecution for the three major religious communities of the empire- Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist, and confirmed the Peace of Augsburg, which had granted the right to each prince in the Holy Roman Empire to decide on the faith of his people. -
Voltaire, Treatise on Tolerance
The Treatise on Tolerance by Voltaire is a response to the surge in violence against Protestants after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Voltaire defends religious freedom and denounces religious fanaticism.To circumvent censorship, he uses here a fictive dialogue between an imam, a Buddhist monk, and an inquisitor. -
Catholic Emancipation Act
Fearing widespread Irish rebellion and civil war, the British Parliament steered the Catholic Emancipation Act through Parliament in 1829, thereby ending the Anglican monopoly on British political life. -
"Orthodoxy, Nationalism, Autocracy"
When Nicholas I came to power, he implemented the policy of "Orthodoxy, Nationalism, Autocracy" to unify Russia behind one religion, one language, and one ruler. This slogan remained the guiding principle behind government policy during later periods of imperial rule.
The document comes from a French newspaper and depicts the surge of attacks on religious minorities in Russia as a result of the new policies. -
Nuremberg Laws
The Nazis passed the Nuremberg laws in 1935. It deprived Jews of German citizenship, prohibited them for certain careers, profession and activities, and it required them to wear a yellow Star of David to identify themselves.
This document is a chart published with the Laws that explains how to discover if a person is Jew, based on his or her bloodline. -
Universal Declaration on Human Right
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. It arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled- which include freedom of religion.
